troops in the big easy as they try to future goals taking back congress and the white house. return to russia, adopted 7-year-old boy sent packing by his adoptive american mother put on a plane back to moscow. russia is now putting american adoptions on hold. a decision that could act hundreds of families. we'll look at both sides and what it could mean for children and couples who want to be parents. the a.m. fix blog is up and running, cnn.com/amfix. first, washington is under a blanket of heavy security at president obama welcomes kings and presidents and prime ministers from 46 different countries. the biggest on american soil since the close of world war ii. the goal, to make sure nuclear weapons don't fall into the wrong hands.

s suzanne the president wants to get rid of nuclear weapons all together. that possible to think about? >> reporter: he is trying, john. the whole thing about the security in the city. i worked late night overnight at a hotel near the white house. there were concrete barriers outside my hotel. barricades lined along the streets. it is very tight outside of the white house and outside of the convention center not far from here. this is all about nuclear security. we heard from president obama as well as secretary hillary clinton saying the threat is not the threat of nuclear war but the nuclear terrorism. the idea that you could have loose nukes in the hands of terrorists like al qaeda and ice it to attack the united states and other countries. this is the eminent threat and something president obama made very clear trying to get a sense of urgency that is this is very

important to address now. this is what he said just yesterday. >> the single biggest threat to u.s. security for short term, medium term and long term would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon. this is something that could change security lapped escape of this country around the world for years to come. if there was a debt nation in new york city or london or johannesburg, the ramifications politically and economically would be did he haevastatindeva >> reporter: it's not something new. we heard it from president clinton and also from president bush, the idea of a terrorist getting a hold of the nuclear materials. what we're hearing from president obama, he does want to create a sense of urgency to

motivate them to do something at this time. >> what are his goals for the summit then? >> reporter: very specific and targeted. not dealing with broad things. they want within four years, they want to secure what they are saying are the vulnerable nuclear materials around the globe. they want cooperation from other leaders. what we expect in the next 24 to 48 hours an endorsement to make that happen within four years and recognition that nuclear terrorism is a serious threat and what are they going to do about it within their own borders to make sure the materials are not smuggled out of the countries and get in the hapds of terrorists. >> we'll watch that all day long. suzanne malveaux, thanks so much. republicans making a big pitch for party unity. some of the biggest names fired up in new orleans over the

weekend and gave us an early indication of who could be at the top of the ticket in 2012. jim acosta is following that live in washington. is it more about 2012 or is it more about the mid-term elections where a lot of republican leaders have been saying now is their time to possibly even take back congress? >> right kiran, the message is that 2010 is definitely the mission. they want to make sure they can take back the congress. this was a conference about getting back on script after unscripted moments. michael steele was very much behind closed doors for much of the conference trying to shore up support among some of those members, some of which have been voicing a lot of concerns and calling for chairman steele to step down because of recent controversies. but over the weekend, steele came out and showed his face and offered up an apology about some

of those distractions. >> i'm the first here to admit i've made mistakes. it's been incumbent on me to take responsibility, shoulder that burden, make the necessary changes and move on. we've all had to do that from time to time. but the one mistake, the one mistake we cannot make this november is to lose. >> reporter: and with so much controversy surrounding steele these days, a lot of republicans are looking to another member of their party, mississippi's governor haley barber, he was also working the crowds in some ways because he's thought of as a presidential contender in 2012. the former governor said this is

no time for distractions and members within the party to be focusing on those distractions because it presents a split that might be exploited by the democrats. >> the democrats' fondest hope is to see tea party or other conservatives split off and have a third party to split the conservative vote. i'll tell you, barack obama worn out three sets of knee pads down on his knees praying for the conservative vote to be split in 2010. and we can't let that happen. we can't let that happen. we've got to stay unified. >> reporter: well, there is more unity coming out of this conference within the gop but there is no unity when it comes to picking a choice for 2012. they held a straw poll as they

do at many of these conferences and essentially found out that the person who did not show up at this conference, former massachusetts governor mitt romney was the winner of the straw poll down there. he just barely edged out ron paul, who is often a favorite of these straw polls because so many of his supporters are so very good at working these rooms and getting out the vote in the straw polls. so mitt romney edging out ron paul there. another thing that came out of this convention as you said, kiran, is pretty much a unified message that they really want to focus on the mid-term elections this fall and think they have an excellent chance of taking back congress. it would be a huge tidal wave. but they think they can do it. >> all right. it will be interesting to see. thanks, jim. we'll talk with congressman ron paul in a little while. we'll get his opinion on the fact that he did almost beat

mitt romney by a single vote. also, breaking news out of italy, a train derailment killing seven people. about a two-hour drive north of venice near the austrian border. rescuers are on the scene. if we get details, we'll bring them to you. west virginia joe manchin is calling for a moment of silence at 3:30 in memory of victims of the mine explosion. it will mark one week since the upper big branch mine. dangerous levels of toxic gas are still prevepting crews to recover the rest of the miners. poland a nation in mourning this morning. thousands gathered in front of the presidential palace to pay final respects to the leaders

killed in a plane crash. president kaczynski and his wife and 90 others were killed in the crash. they are now focused on pilot error as a possible cause. phil mickelson wins his third green jacket. tiger woods finished fourth. it was ease the most emotional win. his wife amy and mom both battling breast cancer and both were there to cheer their man home. >> it was such an exciting masters as well. he almost eagled three times in a row in the round on saturday, i think it was. it was exciting golf. >> mickelson has a history of falling apart in the final moments. he kind of got over that when he won his first master's tournament. it was a really good win for him. >> let's check in with rob

marciano. they had gorgeous weather in augusta. >> rain knocked down some of the extreme pollen we're experiencing. gorgeous weather continues across the eastern third of the country. hope you enjoyed your weekend. we'll highlight more in the way of dry weather. strong storm system developing out west. right now western third getting hammered. san francisco, seattle rain and wind will be in the forecast. daytime highs will be comfortable. in the 60s and lower 70s. we'll talk more about the pollen in some cases guys, as high as it's been in a decade. if you're suffering, you're not alone. >> so many people are suffering this time of year. >> still to come, a worker at toyota risks his job sending a letter to the company's president warning about possible safety problems. hear how the company responded coming up next. i've been growing algae for 35 years.

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♪ welcome back. 14 minutes past the hour right now. long before the massive recalls back when toyota enjoyed a spotless reputation for safety. a group of assembly workers in japan started growing concern. >> they wrote a warning letter to the ceo. deb, these employees saw exactly what was coming down the line? >> not only did they see what was coming but they tried to warn their bosses and their bosses didn't do anything about it. >> reporter: for 45 years, he worked the toyota factory in japan. he took pride in his work believing it was for the good of society. >> translator: it was a good

life i had. >> reporter: in the last decade as demand for fuel efficient cars skyrocketed. they began to fear the company was dangerously cutting corners and compromising safety. so they took a risk. four years ago they wrote this letter voicing serious concerns about they saw as the move to cut cost outsource critical design work and limit car testing on new models and hire more workers they believed were less qualified. >> translator: workers without skill come in charge of making cars. as a result, naturally, the quality had to be compromised. we were anxious of the danger. >> reporter: from 2000 to 2005 the number of toyota recalls have been rising steadily. the company could face a serious crisis if it failed to act. the company's reply -- >> translator: we do not reply. that's it. >> reporter: toyota now acknowledges the letter and says

it strictly adheres to all japanese and u.s. labor laws and regulations. and this february company president akio toy oda admitted they were -- >> it may have been too quick. >> reporter: they set the gold standard for lean manufacturing model, maximizing efficiency. but economic research specialist waldman said the company forgot a goal. >> they overemphasized the efficiency and rapid growth without the goals of careful new product development and information sharing. >> reporter: that information sharing or lack of it would come to haunt toyota. u.s. kept in the dark during the major car recall and 30 european countries last september before

similar recalls hit the u.s. >> we're not perfect. we didn't share the experience that we had in europe, we didn't know about it in north america. >> reporter: in march steve st ank lo was named chief. still, veteran toyota worker now retired is skeptical saying his former bosses hide rather than deal with problems. >> translator: they would avoid announcing defects as recalls and call it service campaign or anything else to fix the problem. >> the focus for toyota now is to make things right. they seemed to ignore the key assets. they forgot to listen to the voices of their own loyal employees. >> you're talking about this memo, and last week you were telling us about a memo from one

of executives as well. >> that's exactly right. there seem to be all of these drops in the bucket. right now the bucket is close to spilling over the there's so much going on. toyota is looking to fix it. they know they've got a problem now. you have to keep in mind. they are almost 140 lawsuits against this company right now. make or break. >> thank you. coming up, senate back from recession, job number one, extending unemployment benefits. >> make or break for hundreds of thousands of people getting unemployment extensions. is this emergency spending that will be continued. this is the democrat's top order of business when they return today. they will tell you whether your job was checked. that's a low price! wow, that's a low price! i'm sorry, did you say something about a low price?

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21 minutes after the hour. christine romans joins us talking about the extension of unemployment benefits and the debate in the senate perhaps this week. >> the democrats and republicans

left for their vacation for easter and did not extend unemployment benefits. the advocates want another extension are very concerned this has left 212,000 people out in the cold last week. that's how much people lost benefits because congress went home for the break without acting. overall advocate for the unemployed see there are a million people at risk of losing benefits in april unless congress does something. the senate didn't because there was one republican senator, tom coburn, we have to find a way to pay for it. the cost of the extension is some $9 billion. so where is that money going to come from? the whole issue is this is originally the extensions were emergency spending under the stimulus. how long are we going to keep going on with emergency extensions and emergency extensions. and some republicans really want to find a way to pay for this. >> you have a romans numeral for

us dealing with this issue. >> the issue two different things, all of these people out of work and all of these people making money 13,944. this is a number to show you how well the stock market has done. record number of people getting unextended employment benefit. the stock market has gone up and up and we're talking about people desperate to survive in unemployment benefits. stocks are expected to open higher today. shows you two speeds in the company, talking about on the one level people trying to get unemployment benefits. on the other level, somebody out there it making money. >> i saw something over the weekend that much the rise in the stock market is based on the low volume of trading or lower volume of trader than normal and giving some people pause as to whether or not this rally -- >> yeah, there are a lot of people who say this market has

gone so gang busters it needs to have a nice little pull back and others are saying, you're crazy if you don't think it's going to hit 14,000. take your pick. a 7-year-old boy sent back to russia alone with just a note. now the search is on for his adoptive family in the united states who said they had to do it.

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your stop stories three minutes away. we're following a developing story, one that could leave hundreds of children and parents in limbo. russia is not allowing any more americans to adopt children after one woman from tennessee disowned her son and put him back to moscow on a plane alone. the boys' adoptive grandmother said he terrorized the family and even threatened to burn down the house. >> reporter: it began when this 7-year-old little boy stepped off the plane in moscow alone with a note from his adoptive mom saying she was returning home because he was mentally unstable and violent. the country's foreign minister threatened to as you ssuspend a to the u.s. and the media looking for the family that sent the kid back. that family doesn't want to be found. we would like to get the

family's side of the story because right now they don't look too good in the headlines. >> they are listed in four different states and there are a lot of listings in tennessee. this is one of them, 2441 q, murphies bore ro, tennessee. it's a post office. another address turned out to be a vacant lot. the russians are also looking for them. evgeny popov is one. >> need to get more attention on the story because it's not the first story with adopted tragic story with adopted children from russia. >> reporter: that's why the russians are so upset. russian authorities say since the mid 1990s at least a dozen

children adopted from russia have died at the hands of their adoptive parents. in this case they say the child was threatening to them. in a phone call, his grandmother described him as violent and si psychotic and had a hit list of people he wanted to hurt. he threatened to kill for her house. they caught him trying to set a fire in the home. she was afraid he was going to burn the house down and kill everyone in it. >> reporter: this by the way is another address for the hansen family. we knocked on the door and nobody responded. she did say in a phone call that she believes putting the little boy on a plane and accepteding him back to russia was the very best thing their family and for the little boy. meanwhile the attorney representing the family and local law enforce the are expected to get together sometime this week to talk about this case. john?

>> they are certainly getting a lot of disagreement as to whether or not that was the best thing for the child. any truth to the russian claims that a half dozen adopted kids have died in america since the mid-1990s. >> reporter: we did digging and it turns out that it appears the russians are right. at least half a dozen cases with indications of more in which russian children adopted by american families have died apparently at the hands of the american adoptive parents. the most recent case in august of last year, in pennsylvania, a 7-year-old boy died due to abuse and malnutrition. his adoptive american parents are in custody awaiting trial for his death. >> martin savidge. thanks so much. we'll talk to michael kirby about the welfare of this boy and other children in the same situation. does russia need to be more transparent. do parents need to be more careful? >> you can imagine how

heartbreaking it is. what happens when adoptive parents change their minds because they find they are unable to properly raise or control the kids they get? now a new program could help keep the families together. a special tonight at 10:00 eastern. we want to know what you think about the controversy. join our blog, cnn.com/amfix. top stories as we cross the half hour. president obama and leaders from 46 different countries are getting ready to attend a nuclear security summit in washington, addressing what the president calls the biggest threat to the united states, keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists in rogue nations. this comes one week after president obama and his russian counterpart agreed to cut the number of nuclear weapons by about a third. we're getting a first hint of who the republicans may want to run for president.

mitt romney beat ron paul by one vote in new orleans. sarah palin came in third. ron paul joins us this morning to talk more about that. cnn obtained a warning letter written by toyota assembly workers and sent to the ceo, how corner cutting and outsourcing were compromising safety. the letter also predicts the crisis they are facing today. toyota quote said, we are not perfect. a new challenge for a new administration, john paul stevens announcing he's going to retire at the end of his term. his departure gives president obama another chance of shaping the high court's direction. >> we cannot replace justice stevens' wisdom, i will seek

someone with similar qualities and who knows powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. >> who will it be and how could the pick influence the elections? senior legal analyst jeffrey tubin, good to see you and a.b. stoddard. let's start with many are saying is the front-runner, alain in a kagan, her name was also in the running for suitor's seat. what do you think about her and her chances? >> she is younger than the other candidates, 49 years old. just confirmed last year to be solicitor general. she has a reputation as someone who can get competing ideologue cal factions along. she seems in line with obama's

moderate democratic politics. i think she's going to be the choice. >> one of interesting things, she has no record to attack. that a good thing or bad thing. >> the administration sees this as a very appealing aspect of her candidacy because really the liberal left has no idea what she thinks nor does the conservative right. they won't be able to box her in because of her past decisions and i think they see this as sort of the easiest pick. >> let's go to another one. diane wood, supposedly on the short list. a former colleague of president obama, they taught constitutional law together. some say this is the favorite pick for people on the left. >> i think the ideologue cal distinctions are less than meets the eye but she does have a longer paper trail. presidents care a lot about age in supreme court nominees, the longer they serve, the longer

the influence lastses on the court. yes she is from chicago and former colleague. i just think for whatever reason, perhaps unfairly, she looks like a much tougher confirmation fight than kagan. >> given the political climate and timing being close to the elections, will the president get resistance no matter who he chooses. >> that depends. kagan who doesn't have a tough record to fight over, someone like wood much easier, anti-abortions will come out very energized against her pro-choice record. and that's going to be a problem. they are very energized. the republicans say they don't want to filibuster and put up a big fight but they'll be under tremendous pressure from their own conservative interest groups and any time that you can raise abortion in a supreme court battle, that side is going to do it and the republicans will have to respond.

that's why someone like kagan is just easier for the administration to get through much faster. >> john paul stevens was confirmed 9 8-0. we have seen the last of those kind of confirmations. there will be a lot of votes against any obama nominee but a filibuster is very unlikely. >> let's talk about the third person on the short list that sort of many judicial analysts say is a possibility. judge merrick garland. >> he is a former justice department official, supervised the oklahoma city bombing cases in the clinton administration, been a judge for a long time, 13 years. >> how old is he? >> born in 1952, so he's 57, 58. again, very solid, unexciting record but not someone who the left or the right would probably

get very excited about. >> it's also interesting there's a lot of focus on gender and ethnicity that came up during sotomayor's nomination. do you think background a.b. in terms of where you're from factor big into this particular pick? >> they always do with the liberal left of the democratic party. i do think there's not the pressure this time to nominate a woman as there was last time. obviously justice sotomayor is on the court and i think that gives someone like garland a better chance at coming on board. the other thing that -- the other question people keep talking about is the court of appeals and why -- the administration should move away from picking those who are serving there. that's why it gives kagan a better shot at this point. >> the whole idea that there should be only one or two women, i think that's a real obsolete

concern, john paul stevens is the only protestant on the court. those are kind of antique concerns. the canadian supreme court has half women. i don't see why in the legal profession in america that is almost half women, the idea that two or three should be considered some sort of maximum. >> great conversation, thanks for being with us, both of you. coming up next on the most news in the morning, bringing the emergency room to front lines. we'll show you a new armored vehicle saving lives in afghanistan. time for new zyrtec® liquid gels. they work fast. so i can get relief from the pollen that used to make me sneeze. with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. so i'm ready by the first hole. with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i can love the air®. [ male announcer ] this week only, save up to $12 on zyrtec® products

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. it is the mash unit, an e.r. crammed into a metal box that with the marines is right there on the front lines every step of the way. >> they are giving military doctors a head start on saving lives, they do not come cheap. here's more from kabul this morning. >> reporter: an armored emergency room doesn't have to wait for the wounded. >> critically injured patient,

let's go. >> reporter: rolls right up to the front line. >> this is the mobile trauma bank, the front palestiline of defense and we take a patient that would die without immediate life giving care and stop bleeding and secure an airway and keep them alive long enough to get them into the o.r. >> they talk about the golden hour, if you get help within the first hour you're pretty much good to go. >> unfortunately not always feasible to get a patient to the hospital within one hour. especially if you're dealing with things like weather getting involved. if you can't get the air asset in, you need something to hold the patients over until you get the helicopter.

our job is to keep them alive for longer than the golden hour, hour and a half, two hours. >> they are by far probably the greatest mental asset that keeps marines like myself and buddies who go out on the convoys, if we end up getting hit, knowing that hey, it's going to be okay -- >> but all of that means nothing if wounded troops can't in a short time frame get to the next level of case like the surgeons. we get somebody here alive, 9 8% will leave alive. >> reporter: a collection of tents and trailers being replaced by a new concrete hospital. and the doctors are already prepping for the big events against the taliban come june. >> we don't know the exact date when that's going to occur. but we've already made changes in the way we receive casualties and increased the number of

trauma team that's we have. >> chris lawrence reporting from kabul. those things are so important. you go to war and see people who are wounded and there's such an amount of time to get the helicopters in there and evacuate and take them to the hospital. you have something there on front lines to narrow the window down. the chances of survival are so much high. >> 9 8% that come here alive leave here alive. rob marciano has the travel forecast after the break. a sandwich without bread? does that mean it's still a sandwich. kfc unveils the new bunless offering.

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♪ good morning, new york city. nice shot of the hudson river and beyond. 47 degrees and clear. later on today, 64 degrees and sunny. >> 47 minutes past the hour. let's check on this morning's weather headlines, rob marciano is in the extreme weather center this morning. no complaints from this department today. >> i would think not, from here either, guys, east of the rockies everything looks lovely. a great weekend for a lot of folks. that may help things as we go through the next couple of days because the dry beautiful

weather the past couple of days have really cranked up the pollen levels. does this look familiar to you. check out the video across parts of the southeast. it's snowing pollen for crying out loud. pollen counts well into the hundreds, if not in some cases thousands and the forecast on this map, extreme pollen counts expected for much of the nation over the next few days. we're starting to see them drop out west because of the rainfall here and higher elevation snow. san francisco all the way down to san diego, a pretty strong storm and showers across parts of florida. that's kind of coupled with the strong southerly jet stream. a lot of moisture going to be slamming into the jet stream and the folks in haiti recovery effort that survival effort is going to endure heavy rain over the next several days. 63 for a high in chicago. 81 expected in dallas and 66 in new york city. pollen levels so high in augusta, tiger was wearing

sunglasses not because he wanted to look cool or shade himself from the media but trying to shield from the pollen in augusta. it was beautiful to watch on tv, no doubt about that. >> so much moisture over the winter, all of the trees and plants very healthy and the urge to spread their oets. >> we were shoveling the snow in the winter now shoveling the pollen in the spring. thanks, rob. costing you more to fill up your gas tanks, 3.8 cents in the last weeks. a gallon of regular gasoline will cost you $2.85 a gallon. top stories minutes away. president obama hosting officials from 50 nations to discuss how to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. phil mickelson stealing spotlight from tiger. did tiger win back sponsors? >>. he beat out sarah palin and

nearly the gop choice for president in the straw poll. ron paul joins us to talk about republicans have an identity crisis and whether he's the man to lead in 2012. it doesn't cover everything.

and what it doesn't cover can cost you some money.

♪ 53 minutes past the hour. let's face it, some things go together, peaches and cream and

ham and cheese. >> here's another one, sandwiches and bread. that's about to change in the world of fast food. >> reporter: be hold the bunless wonder. now you get a taste of it. >> it's good. i don't miss the bun. >> reporter: the missing bun, kfc's double down is the talk of the sandwich world, a slab of chicken, special sauce and cheese and bacon and cheese and more sauce. there's no bread. it's a sandwich without bread. >> reporter: even as it was being tested in markets. >> a double down sandwich come bow. >> reporter: became legendary on the web. dissected and serenaded. >> you ain't got noally buy. >> reporter: 1380 mill grams of

salt. i'm halfway through my daily salt requirement. tell that to the guys eyes who widened with pleasure. >> reporter: there's a lot of salt. >> even better. >> every day i eat lunch you have to take a picture and send it to my girlfriend. it is only 540 calories similar to a big mac, more salt than fat. and comes in a 460 calorie grilled version. cost $5 whether kfc starts selling them on monday. almost everyone tried it liked it. >> that's pretty righteous, that's awesome. >> reporter: chicken overload. will the double down challenge the very definition of -- >> sandwich. >> reporter: two or more slices of bread with a filling between them. if you don't like carbs -- >> this is the best idea i've

seen ever. >> reporter: it is being imitated. >> piece of french toast in between pancakes. >> two pieces of fish and instant ramen. >> fried egg on a bed of hash browns. >> reporter: as to the fate of the bun -- >> who cares, what buns? >> reporter: remember when it was the meet? >> where's the beef. >> reporter: not even kfc can make all buns obsolete. where's the bun? >>. >> it looks pretty good. i could prefer just straight grilled chicken as opposed to fried. only 460 calories. >> the salt is a big problem. got to work on the salt. top stories coming your way after the break. stay with us.

good morning to you on this monday, the 12th of april. thanks for joining us on the most news in the morning. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. you have gone for much of last week in west virginia. it was hard unfortunately that the ending to that story couldn't have been a good one but they found the last four miners did not survive that blast. >> that was what they expected but it doesn't make it easier. even if the families were prepared for it, it was a terrible ending. >> looks like the president spoke out about it in congress. >> an investigation will take place and we see always after these disasters new regulations put in place. the sad thing is regardless of how many regulations are put in place or how many steps to keep the miners safe, something

always seem to happen. this was the worst one in 30 years. >> we'll see what is decided. >> 40 years. >> in the end it ended up being in four decades. we'll continue to follow that story and bring you big story this morning chuding the spread of nuclear weapons and how to stop it. in a moment we'll take you live to the white house with new details on the president's nuclear security summit. cnn obtained a letter written four years by toyota assembly workers in japan, it was sent to the ceo that expressed concern about corper cutting and compromising safety and predicted the crisis facing the company today but the whole thing was ignored. toyota acknowledges it received the letter and never acted on it saying, we are not perfect. is it good for america? there are some that say china's gain hurts us when it comes to keeping jobs here.

a special report, china rising opportunity for threat just ahead. warning terrorist organizations are still after these weapons of mass destruction, the white house invited dozens of world leaders to washington. and the discussion will focus on keeping the nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. suzanne malveaux is live at the white house for us. good morning, suzanne. >> reporter: good morning. obviously the security is very tight here in the city. i worked late last night overnight at a hotel across from the white house. woke up to concrete barriers outside the hotel. not so bad here outside the white house but certainly even stricter security outside the convention center. obviously this summit is all about nuclear security. the president making it very clear that he sees an eminent threat here. the threat now is not from nuclear war as in the time of the cold war from states and countries with nuclear weapons.

but now he is saying the threat is from nuclear terrorism. the possibility of terrorists getting a hold of nuclear materials and attacking the united states or other countries like al qaeda. the president making it very clear that he believes that this is the most important and serious danger that is threatening the world. take a listen, john. >> the single biggest threat to u.s. security, both short term, medium term and long term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon. this is something that could change the security landscape of this country and around the world for years to come. if there was ever a det nation in new york city or london or johannesburg, the ramifications economically and politically and from a security perspective would be devastating.

>> reporter: without officials are saying for the two-day summit the target is very specific. get the world leaders together and for them to sign off on an agreement essentially to try to secure those vulnerable nuclear materials within four years around the globe. >> 46 countries represented there today. are there specific pledges they are asking the other countries attending to make. >> we do expect they'll be specific pledges and expect the leaders will talk about them. one of the things that is a priority is trying to make sure that nuclear materials are not smuggled out of the country and into the hands of terrorists. the other thing we'll be hearing from these leaders, the idea of stressing regulations. a lot of the private industry controls the nuclear materials. strengthen those regulations and make sure they don't get outside of the private industry's hands. the other things is toughening legal punishments and trying to secure things like plutonium and

highly enriched uranium that make up nuclear explosives, those weapons that they are talking about. chile is one examle of a country that says we're going to give our materials to the united states, you guys deal with and secure it. there are other country that's want third parties to get involved to secure the materials and finding alternatives using lower grade fuels for energy purposes and so they don't end up having to use those type of dangerous materials that could get into the hands of terrorists. these are some ideas and pledges that we expect in the next 24 hours, john. >> we'll be watching that very closely all day today. the big summit coming up on nuclear weapons. suzanne malveaux, live at the white house. thanks. other stories new this morning. poland is observing seven days of mourning after the death of lech kaczynski, he and more than

90 other polish leaders died in a plane crash. investigators found no mechanical problems with the plane and are looking at pilot error as the cause. a moment of silence in memory of the victims of last week's deadly mine explosion. it marks one week since 29 miners died in montcoal. investigators have yet to determine the exact cause of that blast. and the senate back from a two-week recess expected to take up a measure that extends unemployment benefits through the first week of may. we could see another partisan showdown over this discussion. democrats need at least one republican to vote with them to get the 60 vets they need. they want to offset the expense with spending cuts. it started with a circus complete with a tiger.

tiger woods returned to golf but it quickly turned into phil mickelson's weekend. >> lefty, as he's known won his third green jacket and celebrated with his mom and wife both battling breast cancer. tiger woods finished five strokes back. carol costello joins us live. i watched this weekend out of interest and then phil nickel son, he was on fire and made it really interesting. >> reporter: i'm not really a big golfer fan but i watched as well and phil mickelson made it so emotional. you forgot about tiger woods. now we can talk about what happened to his swing. the story of this masters turned out to be the good husband and aggressively spectacular golfer phil mickelson. there he is after shooting a bogey free 67.

he made the spectacular shot through the pine trees. so emotional. there's his wife amy recovering from breast cancer, struggled to make it to the tournament and phil mickelson held her for a full 30 seconds. it is an endless hug, put the green jacket on and his wife amy was on his mind in his moment of glory too. listen. >> i really want to recognize my family. my wife -- we've been through a lot this year. and it means a lot to share some joy together. [ applause ] >> kiran, didn't that make you cry? i was crying. >> it was an emotional moment. he did say he was suspending golf indefinitely when he learned of her diagnosis. then as it turned out they did

catch it early. >> reporter: she's recovering but weak from taking the medication that she needs to get rid of it. she struggled to make it to the tournament today. they live in california, it was a long flight. then six weeks after his wife was diagnosed his mother was diagnosed. he's been going through that too. what a contrast though. woods finished fourth. his wife elin nowhere in sight. mostly tiger woods was surrounded by security, his caddie and oh, yeah his agent. he did not do well. in fact he muterred some not curse words but not very nice words as he took a bad swing. at least we can stop wondering about his sex life and wonder what happened to his swing. >> at any rate, phil mickelson, great guy, great golfer. deserved win yesterday. it was a good one for the masters. thanks so much. >> time to get a check on this morning's weather headlines.

rob marciano is in atlanta. if you live in the eastern half, things are looking good. out west, pretty shaking. >> east of the rockies things have been quite nice. pollen levels are very high because of that. here's the wind. winds across parts of california, pretty high today as the rain. if you have allergies fly out to california and bring the rain coat. rain or wind, los angeles, seattle, probably see travel delays, creeping up into the 80s across parts of texas. back to you. >> ten minutes after the hour. almost scored the top spot in the gop straw poll after he won the conservative political action conference straw poll. ron paul on what's right and wrong with his party and whether this is the gop's year. a warning from the assembly

line, workers who say they saw toyota cutting very dangerous corners. we'll show you the letter that sadly may have been ignored and may have come true. an "a.m. original" serieses, china rising. is that a threat or opportunity for us? savings even more memorable. gecko: all right... gecko: good driver discounts. now that's the stuff...? boss: how 'bout this? gecko: ...they're the bee's knees? boss: or this? gecko: sir, how 'bout just "fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance." boss: ha, yeah, good luck with that catching on! anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

♪ 12 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. republicans are now looking ahead and eyeing a major political comeback.

rally the troops at a leadership conference that took place in new orleans where a straw poll gave an early indication of potential gop candidates in 2012. mitt romney topped ron paul by one vote. there you see all of results there. sarah palin third and newt gingrich fourth. both well back from the front-runners. congressman ron paul joins us now. thanks for being with us. >> thank you, john, nice to be with you. >> over the weekend we heard a little bit of back and forth and difference of between sarah palin and newt gingrich whether it should be the party of no. gingrich saying you can't be the party of no. sarah palin, saying it's okay if you don't like something to say no. where do you come down on that? >> i agree with them both. if you don't like something you say no. there's an opposite to no you're saying yes to something. i have to say no to most of the legislation in washington but i am saying yes to the constitution and principles of

liberty. in a way they are both right. i don't think there's too much of a agreement there. >> newt gingrich seemed to be saying, that you have to sort of stand for something you can point to. maybe legislatively or on principle, standing up and explaining. when you're the minority party in congress it's harder to show, this is what we want to get done. what is your role as the minority party in congress when it comes to trying to let people know what you stand for? >> i think that's the goal. that's been my goal all along. some people say when you're in the opposition all you do is knock down the other side because they are doing badly and you'll pick up the pieces and then tell them. if you tell them specifically what you'll believe in, they'll start challenging you. if you believe something and believe it's correct, you should come across saying this is what i believe in. sound money and nonintervention and civil liberties and free market. that's all yes.

and i, of course believe that since sincerely. i don't run for office but run to see if i can get support for certain ideas. when i can get the support, that's a sign they are accepting the ideas which i consider positive. >> you did very well in the straw poll. and sarah palin was there as well. she draws huge crowds and some degree become the face of the tea party. your son rand said she would be a great candidate. do you agree with that? >> i don't make predictions like that at all. i've been watching this for a long time and waiting for a great president. and i quite frankly there's been a few get into office who have very few qualifications. and those who have qualifications, to me it's the ideology of the people. the people want welfare and war fair, that's what the president

and congress give. to me it's a change of attitude. as long as the people want to be taken care of by the government. no matter whether they are popular and don't think a whole lot, they are going to do what the attitudes are. there's a conflict between what the prevailing attitude of people is versus the power of the lobbyists. the people might not want government medical care but the lobbyists might. there's a fight and that fight is out in the open now, what the people want versus what the lobbyists want. >> one big player has been the tea party. we've seen it evolve through the health care debate. it's hard to define. what are the main issues that the tea party stands for? >> i think clearly there's a fair amount of disagreement on exactly where they come down on the war on drugs and foreign policy. i think what unifies them is they are disgusted with hearing

promises and not being fulfilled by the politicians. they are very concerned about the size and scope and failure of government and the bankruptcy of government. because it doesn't go unnoticed that the national debt is rising so rapidly. last week the national debt went up $108 billion in one week. people are sensing this. >> what about some have argued the elements of perhaps racism, some of the other things talking about obama as a socialist or -- they are present at some of these rallies. >> i think that's one or two percent and blown out of proportion when some media person in the media can pick this up and play that up and forget about 99% of what they are saying. they want limited government and these are good people. yes, there are elements like that on left and right. i don't think that's their theme at all. there's always risk in politics, whether you're on the left or right or people who join you for

ulterior motives and want to discredit you. the individual presenting the case has to present the issues. i have to defend my views. can't defend the views of everyone who shows up at one of my events. we don't screen people. >> michael steele, the rnc chairman was also down there, growing number of people calling for resignation, saying that he's not the best person to be leading the party. what are your thoughts on that? >> i don't think so. i think he's doing a pretty good job. -- once again, it might be a little lack of control of some of the people that work for him and did something i don't think he was personally involved. it's a big operation. been winning some elections -- >> you have faith? >> raised a lot of money. he's the first republican chairman who has had at least reached out to me and at least would talk to me. generally the republican leadership don't want to have

anything to do with me and don't want to have anything to do with the ron paul people. they should be looking to us and saying, you know, why don't we help these young people who are so anxious and interested in what i'm talking about, maybe they can be and sure should be in the republican party instead of being excluded. he's reached out. he has imperfections, he admitted that. to kick him out of office right now, that's not going to happen and wouldn't make any sense as far as i'm concerned. >> congressman ron paul, thanks. coming up next, a letter to toyota's president warning safety problems. this one coming from workers who build the cars right there on the assembly line. we'll tell you how the company responded. 19 minutes past the hour. [ sneezing ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what are you gonna miss

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welcome back. the days when toyota ep joyed stellar reputations for safety, some workers became concerned. >> they didn't like the way the

company was building cars, they wrote an urgent letter to the ceo. it was ignored. here's more on the explosive warning with the letter that sadly came to past. >> reporter: for 45 years, wak such ki worked at the factory in japan. took pride in his work, believing it was for the good of society. >> translator: it was a good life i had. >> reporter: in the last decade as demand for small fuel efficient cars skyrocketed, the union he represented began to fear the company was dangerousry cutting corners and compromising safety. four years ago they wrote this letter voizing concerns what they saw as toyota's move to cut costs. outsource critical design work and limit car testing on new models and hire more workers they believed were less qualified. >> translator: workers without

skill become in charge of making cars. as a result naturally, the quality had to be compromised. we were very anxious of the danger. >> reporter: from 2000 to 2005 the number of toyota recalls had been rising steadily u the letter warned the company could face a serious crisis if it failed to act. the company's reply -- >> translator: we do not reply. that's it. >> reporter: toyota now acknowledges the letter and says it strictly adheres to all japanese and u.s. labor laws and regulations. this february, company president akio toyoda admitted priorities got confused. outpaced quality control. >> i fear the pace of which we have grown may have been too quick. >> reporter: they set the gold standard for lean manufacturing model maximizing efficiency.

but economic research specialist waldman says they overlooked a key goal. >> every emphasized rapid growth without the goals of proper new product development and information sharing. >> reporter: executives in the u.s. seemingly kept in the dark during toyota's major car recall in more than 30 european countries last september. just before similar recalls hit the u.s. >> we're not perfect. and we didn't share the experience that we had in europe. we didn't know about it in north america. >> reporter: in march, steve st angelo was named chief. still, veteran toyota worker wak sukky now retired is skeptical

saying his former bosses hide rather than announcing problems. >> they will avoid announcing recalls, call it service campaign or anything else to fix the problem. >> clearly the focus now is making things right. the company seems to have ignored a key asset, that is listening to the voicings of its own loyal and talented employees. >> very surprising they spoke up about it in the first place. >> absolutely. this gentleman happened to retire a couple of months ago. he was there for 45 years, saw what was going on and got very concerned. toyota says we did get the letter, but again, it's a big company, you're not going to look at all letters. this was a union and pointing out problems they saw as potentially a safety risk. >> thanks so much. next on the most news in the morning, the u.s. economy continues to recover. in china it's a different story. christine romans with a special series "china rising", opportunity or threat. you know, when i grow up,

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top stories coming your way in a couple of minutes. first an "a.m. original." before the turn of the century, you had to be in china, for u.s. businesses it was considered a no brainer. china's economy is booming while others is sagging. you have to ask the question, has china been good or bad for americans? china rising, opportunity or threat. >> with china's economy surging and chronic unemployment here in the united states. nine years add being admitted to

the trade organization, has china's rise been good or bad for america? meet steve, husband, father of two daughters and a trade statistic. >> i felt like a baseball player that got traded from a team that he loved playing for and loved the fans. i loved my customers, my co-workers were like second family to me. >> reporter: his job as a telecom projects manager went overseas to china when his factory moved there. as a casualty of foreign trade qualifies him for a stipend. >> we're keeping it level and steady and holding the line. right now we're okay. >> reporter: he's the face of the increasingly strained relations between the u.s. and china. one think tank estimates 2.4 million manufacturing jobs went to china between 2001 and 2008. with the explosive rise comes a nation that is a key player in

america's domestic and foreign policy. take its currency. anything made in china is cheaper than made in the usa. why? >> they ash trarly control the value of the currency and do not allow it to float like most other currencies in km supply and demand for the currency set the value of it. >> reporter: that means $1 is always equal to about 6.83 wan. >> it gives them a 40% advantage and puts our exporters at an enormous disadvantage. >> the treasury secretary post uponed a report that could have listed china as a currency manipulating, optding for back room diplomacy and closed door meeting in beijing. this before china's president, jintao comes to washington for nuclear talks. >> we're not going to hang him

out to dry while he's here. >> reporter: pressuring china is tricky, china is america's banker, the world's factory floor and building its military by more of the world's natural resources to fuel its growth and doesn't like americans telling it what to do. >> chinese showing a new assertiveness and aggressiveness that took many americans by surprise. it's partly because they are starting to listen to what we see about this being china's century, they say, if this is our century, we should determine what goes on. at the same time the u.s. needs china's influence. >> thus far, we have not clearly been a one mind. do it diplomatically and the americans have gotten more and more patient and move the world in the direction of difficult sanctions.

>> reporter: many wonder, is china an opportunity or threat? >> it's going to be both. >> reporter: a question unanswered for steve uden, still out of work and his job is now somewhere in china. his outlook, quintessential american. >> i'm completely optimistic and believe in the march row of my bones that i'll find something good for me and my wife and children. >> publicly the chinese dismiss the obama's administration's calls to let the currency rise publicly. the premiere recently scalded the president of the united states and called america's attitude protectionist and america has too many of its own problems to interfear how china does its business. privately they are saying there could be some progress behind the scenes on some of these issues and some of these tensions are simmering down over

the past few days. >> let's talk more about that. hu jintao will appear in the nuclear summit. relations with china, as christine has mentioning, have been shaking for a while. does this signal a new beginning? ian bremer, the president of a global risk researching firm and christine romans remains with us. what's the state of the relationship between the u.s. and china now, and of what significance is hu jintao's visit to washington today? >> the visit, as you suggest is a bit of a victory for the obama administration, things had been deteriorating on almost every front. there's no area that is decisively better now than it was year ago. most are worse. whether on the economic, trade, currency, gee yoe politics, you name it. pushing back on the public

announcement of whether or not they would be declared a currency manipulator and instead striing to do that behind the scenes paves the way. this is coming as both countries will be batting each other more on the issues. it will be harder for obama too tow the line going forward. >> what are china's intention snz in the 1990s bill clinton called them a strategic ally. president bush called them a strategic competitor. they have a long-range view that not many people in america have. some people have suggested they are sort of where japan was in the 1970s. >> china has a very distinct national strategy that is thought out, laid out and planned by the government and followed. the united states does not have a national strategy like that for its business. the other thing that people need to know about china, china's business and politics and its social policy and its military

is all the same thing. it's a big complex, all the same thing. nothing is done without knowing how that will affect and prosper the rest of the country. in this country, we have competing interests and different stake holders as they like to say in washington. sometimes they are working at odds. it is the quintessential culture clash. sometimes critics of our relationship with china say that in washington, we think about china's strategies with our own perspective and we don't think like the chinese and that's a big problem. >> you heard gordan chang talking in christine's piece this is held to be china's century. does the united states risk take a back seat to china and if we do, when could that happen? >> gordan chang thinks china is going to collapse. he's been saying that for a long time. i think it's clear for the next ten years china's ability to maintain social stability is pretdy strong. we need to recognize the average

chinese feels well more disposed after 30 years of 10% growth at the hands of chinese government than the average american does about our own government. and that's something i think a lot of americans aren't prepared to hear. we shouldn't be thinking in terms of centuries. things are moving much too quickly, political institutions are still relatively mature. we have things on horizon, nuclear proliferation, climate change, can't do centuries any more. if you want to talk about the next ten years, they are going to be posing a challenge to the united states. at base level, their economy is much more state controlled and closed. as they don't need our currency any more and as an investment and don't need our technology, we're finding the world's two largest economies have economic systems that are fundamentally incompatible. that's a real problem when we're facing 10% unemployment. >> gordan chang said it would

collapse by 2010 o so time is running out. >> it is quickly running out on gordon. >> christine, thanks. tomorrow, part two, christine romans examines how china has changed american businesses. one look at your dinner table will tell you everything you need to know. that's tomorrow only on "american morning." there is an outcry after a tennessee mother sent her adopted russian sent back to russia on a plane by himself, saying he was a danger and threatening her family. now there is a huge international controversy. we're going to have the very latest coming up. 38 minutes past the hour. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

when i got my medicare card,

we're following a developing story, one that could leave hundreds of children and potential adoptive parents in limbo this morning. russia says it is not allowing any more americans to adopt children from their country after one tennessee mom sent her 7-year-old adopted son back to moscow, put him on a plane alone, a one-way ticket, ten-hour flight. the boy's adoptive grandmother said he threatened the families and even attempted to burn down

the house and they were at their witt's end. >> reporter: it began when the 7-year-old little boy stepped off the plane in moscow on thursday, alone with a note from his adoptive american mom saying she was returning him because he was mentally unstable and violent. russians were outraged. the country's foreign minister even threatened to suspend all adoptions to the u.s. and the media flocked here looking for the family that sent the kid back. that family doesn't want to be found. >> this has been a regular routine here for the past couple days days. yesterday there were a bunch of notes from journalists. now there's this edition, a fruit basket. we're told it's from "people" magazine. we would like to get the family's side of the story. we've been trying to track them down with former addresses that

they have. they are lists in at least four different states and there are a lot of listings here in tennessee. this is one of them. 2441 q, mur fees bore ro, not a home, it's a post office box. another address we had for them turned out to be a vacant lot. we aren't the only ones looking, so are the russians. reporter popov is one. >> we need to get more -- to get more attention on americans on this story. because it's not a first story with adopted -- tragic story with adopted children from russia. >> reporter: that's why the russians are so upset by this case. russian authorities say since the mid 1990s, at least a dozen children adopted from russia have died at the hands of their american families. but in this case the family says the russian child was threatening them.

the phone call with a cnn, nancy hanson described him as violent and si psychot psychotic. he had a hit list, number one, his american mom he threatened to kill for her house. when they caught him in the act of trying to start a fire in the home, nancy said she was afraid he was going to burn the house down and kill everyone in it. >> reporter: nancy hanson says she honestly believes taking the little boy and sending him back to russia was the very best thing, for their family and the best thing for the little boy. in the meantime, it's anticipated that the hanson family will meet with local law enforce. sometime this week. >> that claim from russia, that about half a dozen adopted kids have died in america since the mid-1990s, have been able to

verify that. >> reporter: we found in at least a half dozen incidents, the russians are right. there were cases of adoptive american families now charged as a result of the death of russian children. one of the most recent cases took place in august of last year in pennsylvania. a 7-year-old russian boy died as a result of abuse and malnutriti malnutrition. his parents are in jail awaiting trial, adopted parents. >> this is generating a lot of controversy. thank you. coming up at 8:30 eastern, we're going to be talking to michael kirby, state department official about the welfare of this boy and what this means for other children now in the same situation. does russia need to be more transparent about some of the needs and psychological time of the children, or do parents need to be more careful? we'll talk about all of that coming up. we have weather across the country and rob marciano has the forecast coming up after the break. it's 45 minutes after the hour. [ female announcer ] breathe right asks... [ woman ] could i ask you to strip on the street?

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♪ you're waking up to a great day in new york. 53 and sunny right now. later on today going up to a high of 67. it will remain sunny. there's not a cloud in the sky right now. we expect it's going to continue that way. rob marciano tracking the weather across the country. he's down in atlanta this morning.

good morning, rob. >> good morning, it's going to continue for a couple of days. dry trend remains in place across parts of the east and two thirds of the country. all of the action as far as extreme weather has shifted off towards the west. but that's only helping them as far as knocking down the pollen, which in some cases is at a highest level we've seen in ten years. extreme pollen levels everywhere south of mason dixon line and those trees are doing their thing to procreate. san diego seeing some rain here and snow at the higher elevations. still winter storm warnings posted 16 to 26 and even 6 to 12 inches potentially above 5,000 feet along the grapevine in l.a. that's more like a february or march storm more than mid-april. this will continue today and onshore winds will continue as well. rip current will be a bit of an issue and tempts very mild.

sunshine out there and people will be drawn to the beaches. be aware of that if you are going to dip your toes into what is a chilly atlantic ocean. temperatures are very nice. 80 across lower texas. john and kiran, if you go out and decide to swim in the beach. be careful. >> probably not this week. when it was 92 for a high, may we would have thought about it. >> i was in virginia weekend over the weekend, plenty of people on the sand, but didn't see anybody go in the water. this morning's top stories minutes away including gop excitement in the big easy, divided in the future of their leader. united they need a change in washington. at 50 minutes past the hour, the e.r. that rolls onto the front lines and saves lives. the armored mobile hospital that

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seven minutes to the top of the hour. time for a.m. house call. food and drug is taking a closer look at anti-bacterial

products. >> it has been linked to altering hormones. some of these products are no more effective than soap and water in reducing and kimming swrirms. joining us is dr. sarah jansen. she is a scientist with a nonprofit organization. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> we just brought a little sampling in of things you see every day, soap, tooth past, dish soap. a lot of this stuff contains try cloe sin or try cloe ban. what do these chemicals do and what is the concern of them this morning? >> well, these chemicals, triclosan, have been added for bacterial resistance. the chemicals don't do any bet they're than regular soap and water. they are interfering with who

are homes in the human system, thyroid and sex hormones and could be promoting drug presis ste tent back tear yar. >> in a letter that was sent to congressman ed markey, they seem to share some of his concerns. here is what they said, quote, it is the fda's opinion that existing data raised valid concerns about the effects of repetitive daily human exposure to these anti-septic ingredients. the industry continues to maintain it is all safe. what is the existing day that that has raised concerns among your organization and the congressman and the fda? >> the data we have see from animal studies is that it interferes with the male hormone, testosterone. the long-term effects can be

behave yorl changes, learning abnormalities and long-term effects on reproductive health. the other seems to boost hormones, which is a concern for those that have breast cancer. we don't have any data in humans. animals share the same hormone systems that we do. >> what do you do then? it is in so many different products. we linked it to our website, cnn.com/am fix. it is in tooth past, hand soap, dish washing dishes, deodorants, socks, cutting boards. how do you avoid it? >> it is in a lot of different products. in particular, in the personal care product, liquid soaps. it is found in 75%. in the bar soaps, about 25%. it is going to show up on the

label. you can avoid these chemicals by reading the label and not buying try cloe san or triclocarban. >> some have moved to limit products that come in contact with these. should the united states do the same thing or do we need more empeer cal evidence? >> no, with he do not need any more empirical evidence. we have enough data to be concerned. the fda has been evaluating these personal care products for over 30 years. they have given them a pass, because they haven't p finalized any regulations. they have been allowed to be in our products without any oversight or regulation. time to reign that in and pull these products off the shelves. >> dr. sarah jansen with the

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good monday morning. i'm kiran chetry. >> good morning. i'm john roberts. here are the big stories we will be telling you about. what went wrong? investigators in russia trying to determine the cause of a weekend plane crash that killed poland's president and 90 other people. an unprecedented summit taking place in washington. leaders from across the globe meeting to make sure terrorists

never get their hands on nuclear weapons. it is one of the biggest national gathering on u.s. soil ever. republicans rallying the troops this weekend in the big easy as they try to get past the crisis in leadership and focus on future goals, taking back congress and after that, the white house. a live report just ahead. of course, the a.m. fix blog is up and running. we would like to hear from you about what's in the news this morning. go to cnn.com/am fix. we will be reading some of your comments in the next hour. we begin with the nation's grief. poland is observing seven days of national mourning after the death of their president, lech kaczynski. what caused the president's plane to go down in thick fog? senior international correspondent, nic robertson is live at the scene of the crash. investigators aren't making any final rulings. it seems to me they are pointing toward some signs of pilot error

this morning? >> reporter: that certainly seems to be the case. that's what we have been hearing from the russian emergency ministry. the pilots didn't listen properly to the air traffic controllers. if you look over my shoulder here, you can see some of the recovery operation going on in the distance there. a crane has been brought in to lift some of the heavy parts of the aircraft. the fuselage, they are having to build a road because they crashed in a swampy area. they need to get something for the crane to be able to drive along. today is about the recovery of searching for more evidence and information about what caused the crash. yesterday, however, there was a very sombre and solemn seen here at the air base where the polish president's body was sent on its final journey back to poland. >> reporter: slow, solemn and sombre, moments before president

lech kaczynski's cassette is boarded on a plane to poland. this is beginning to close the first chapter in this very pain f full episode. a lot is at stake over how the investigation develops in the coming days. in the nearby woods, that's investigation still under way. experts searching through the wreckage, aircraft parts littering the ground that crashed in heavy fog 24 hours earlier. >> they are looking at the white box, looking reasoned examining what the air traffic controllers talked about. the warning they gave them, that they were too low, moving too wide. this point where we are standing down here, where the plane came down, half a mile short of the runway down through the trees there. >> reporter: already, investigators say the plane had

no mechanical faults. poland's ambassador cautions against jumping to judgment against the pilots. >> many people think that this is something that pilots did wrong but it must be investigated. >> reporter: he had come to say good-bye to his president but warnings relatives of others killed in the crash. they may have to wait to get their loved ones back. >> many people are in moscow and maybe they expect that they will -- they could take them with them soon but it depends on specialists. >> on the investigation, it depends. >> yes. >> reporter: polish and russian investigators are working closely. the tragedy has brought the two nations closer than they have been in years.

what you can see here at the base here is a very symbolic, if you will, indication of just how close the two nations are coming together. russians have been bringing their floral tributes for the loss of the polish leaders aboard the aircraft and all around the base here, wherever you have been able to see fragments of aircraft and people. local people have come up close, laying flowers and putting big wreaths out. a very, very big outpouring of emotion and support by russians for all the poles killed aboard that aircraft. >> such a shock for the nation. thank you. breaking news from northern italy, a train derailment killing 11 people and injuring 25 others. a landslide caused by a broken ear kags triggered the accident.

washington is under a blanket of heavy security as president obama welcomes leaders from 46 different countries. the goal of this major gathering, keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists, something that president obama calls the biggest threat to american security. suzanne malveaux at the white house. give us the low-down. what can we expect from the summit? >> reporter: obviously, a lot of work ahead. the summit will start in about two hours or so. it is not far from the white house. the president has already been hosting one-on-one meetings with some of these critical allies, these leaders who have arrived. it is going to be a big occasion and a big deal, because the president is trying to emphasize a sense of urgency here. he is making the case that the threat is no longer about nuclear war. at the time of the cold war where states and countries had nuclear weapons, it is now the threat of nuclear terrorist, the possibility that terrorists

could get their hands on nuclear materials like al qaeda, like criminal gangs and put together a nuclear weapon and attack the united states or other countries. this is something that is an imminent threat and must be dealt with. this is how the president put it yesterday in kicking off the summit. >> the single biggest threat to u.s. security, both short-term, medium-term, and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon. this is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come. if there was ever a detonation in new york city or london or johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically from a security perspective would be devastating. >> reporter: john, the goal of the summit, very specific, very

targeted, to have these nations come up with an agreement, a document that essentially says that they are going to be securing, trying to secure all of the nuclear materials, vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years, that they endorse president obama's plan to move forward with this, that they recognize that nuclear terrorism is a significant threat and that they will make their own pledges towards the effort to make sure that these nuclear materials don't get in the hands of terrorists. that is what we are going to see develop over the next 24-48 hours, these world leaders coming together and saying, this is what we are willing to do to confront this problem and this potential danger. john? >> looking forward to your reporting on that throughout the day today. suzanne malveaux live at the white house, thanks. eight minutes past the hour. other stories, west virginia jim man ch man chin is calling for a moment of silence since the 29 miners

died. dangerous levels of toxic gas prevented crews from recovering the last of the miners bodies. actress, dixie carter has died. she was best known for her role as julia sugarbaker in the hit television sitcom "designing women." the 70-year-old actress died from complications of endo me treeal cancer. she is survived by her husband, actor, hal holbrook, and two daughters. the walth of the world on his shoulders and the weight of tiger woods on his tail, that didn't stop phil mickelson from winning yesterday. his wife and mom, mary, both battling breast cancer and both of them right there with him behind the 18th green cheering him home. >> i really want to recognize my family. my wife, we have been through a lot this year and it means a lot to share some joy together.

tiger woods also making his first appearance since the sex scandal sidelined him four months ago. he finished five shots back in fourth place. coming up at ten minutes aft hour, rob marciano tracking the forecast across the country. >> there was something going on in augusta? i wasn't aware of that. gorgeous stuff over the weekend. beautiful morning today for sure. one problem that this has all created, an unusual amount of pollen across much of the country. if you are suffering, you are not alone. no relief in sight across much of the eastern half of the country. it is going to be pretty dry. the only exception would be western great lakes, northern plains. the west coast a mess with rainfall, wind, high elevations, snows. if you are traveling out there, bring winter gear and some patience as well. there will be delays at los angeles, san francisco and

seattle. 62 degrees in los angeles. the potential for flash flooding at burn areas out there. 81 in memphis. 66 degrees in new york city. another beautiful spring day for the big apple, surprised to see you both here. i thought somebody would be playing hooky, hanging out in central park. >> you must have just read our minds. we are here, yes but we are looking at this beautiful shot of central park. we are going to pop it up there. >> isn't that nice? >> gorgeous. >> try to stay with us through the end of program, guys. >> we are with you. coming up, the gop leadership conference. finding a front-runner? who really is flirting with the presidential spotlight in 2012? we will talk about it coming up. (announcer) it's one of the best mid size sports sedans in the world

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you will find we aim for the heartland with sarah palin original movies like "my daughter only sprained her

ankle" you can't seriously be considering oout thanizing her. how is my little angel? >> the obama care death panel issued a ruling. the cost of setting your daughter's angle is considered prohibitive. we are going to to have put her down. >> mommy? >> no! >> oichlh, that one has a hidde message. well, tina fey, in her role of sarah palin. the real sarah palin who is firing up the faithful to win the congress in the mid-term elections and perhaps looking to 2012 as well. at a leadership conference, gop leaders tried to get past some of the internal issues and get back to dashesing the democrats. jim acosta is following that for us. he is live in washington. it is so exciting to talk about the next new star of the gop, the new ron paul, 74 congressman of texas.

he came within one vote of winning this straw poll. >> that's right. i wish we could continue talking about the tina fey/sarah palin network. that was comedy magic there. you are right. ron paula parentally is doing quite well at these republican leadership conferences. you will remember the cpac conference that just happened in washington where he won a straw poll there. he almost won this straw poll down at the southern republican leadership conference in new orleans. he lost to mitt romney by one vote. they essential will i tied in the straw poll down there. this is despite the fact that ron paul said at this conference that obama is not a soescialist. he has a lot of fervent supporters out there. when they have these straw polls, his supporters get out, work the rooms, wok the votes. they do quite well in these

events. you have some republicans grumbling that these straw polls don't mean a lot, kiran. >> there are soon to be two mixed messages. we have to be the party of yes. you have to explain what you are for. sarah palin said it is not bad to be the party of no if the answer to no is to things we don't believe in. >> sarah palin did fairly well in the straw poll. she finished third, 18% of the vote. but, you know, the one republican that seemed to fire up the crowd at this event almost more than any other was hal haley barbour. a lot of folks looking to him these days as the defacto leader of the republican party in some sense and that michael steele, the chairman of the rnc has come under so much controversy. haley barbour told that crowd to be careful not to let distractions at the rnc, some of the divisions inside the conservative movement between

republicans and tea party activist. he was warning not to let those divisions split the party in two. >> the democrats' fondest hope is to see tea party or other conservatives split off and have a third party to split the conservative vote. i'll tell you, barack obama has worn out three sets of knee pads down on his knees praying for the conservative vote to be split in 2010. we can't let that happen. we can't let that happen. we've got to stay unified. >> haley barbour wasn't even in that straw poll. so that is another reason why some folks feel that those results were a bit skewed. >> he said he dntd want idn't w in it because he says he is not running in 2012. >> he says he is not running but

he keeps talking like a candidate in many of these functions that he is talked about at these events. there are a lot of republicans that would like to see him get into 2012. a lot of folks are saying, this is all about 2010. they want to take back the congress and put off a lot of talk on 2012, at lease fort the time being. >> let's get back to michael steele. last week was not an easy week for him with some of the scandals, some of the talk about money used for inappropriate things. is he safe now? he has gotten the support of key gopers. >> that's right. him. making it mathmatecally impossible for him to be voted out. he spent a lot of time behind

closed doors pressing the flesh and making sure his base of support is still there. he apparently has it. he also spoke to the crowd there at the conference on saturday. despite the fact that the ballroom was only half full, he delivered real fiery message to those republicans down there saying that the founding fathers were fearful first. they were afraid of unchecked power in government and so are we but he did spend some time offering up a may acup pa for some of the problems he has had lately. >> i am the first tier to admit, i have made mistakes. it has been emcouple bent on me to take responsibility, shoulder that burden, make the necessary changes and move on. we have all had to do that from time to time. [ applause ]

but the one mistake, the one mistake cannot make this november is to lose. >> despite that fiery speech that he gave down there in new orleans, there were some republicans still grumbling about them. as sarah palin put it, just a few days ago, his term is up in january. so what point really is there in having a huge squabble inside the rnc when he is going to be out of there in less than a year, kiran? >> jim acosta for us from washington. thanks so much. >> you bet. john? a mother from tennessee cannot deal with her adopted son, a son she adopted from russia. what does she do? she sends him back, triggering an international incident. the state department reigning in on that coming right up. it is 22 minutes after the hour. i have allergies. ♪ you're right. i'm getting more air. -oh, yeah. -oh, wow! [ female announcer ] for two free samples, go to breatheright.com.

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24 minutes aft hour. time for "minding your business" this morning. the jobs are going to come back slowly. leading economists say the unemployment rate will only inch down to 9.3% by the end of this year. it has been 9.7% since january. >> gas prices meanwhile are going up. according to the national lum burg survey, the average is $2.85. up more than three cents. >> steve corral and tina faye striking gold with "date night." it tied with "clash of the titans." china, our huge market, and also a potential adversary. coming up, our special report "china rising," is it good or

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first, an a.m. original, something you will see only in america morning. in the turn of the century ued to be in china. it was considered a no-brainer. >> fast forward to where we are now. you have to ask the question, has china been good or bad for america? christine r christine romans joins us now. it is so fascinate forg a country we are so linked with and yet so far away and have such a different foundation. we started asking ourselves after a lot of the talk about being on with the unsafe toys. >> it is a complicated relationship. the diplomacy on both sides has been fascinating to watch. these are two economic systems that are very, very different and completely melded together. the question then is, nine years after china was admitted to the world trade organization and officially welcomed to the world economy, has china's rise been

good or bad for america? meet steve udin, husband, father of two daughters and a trade statistic. >> i felt like a baseball player that got traded from a team that he loved playing for and loved the fans. i loved my customers, my coworkers were like second family to me. >> reporter: his job as a telecom projects manager went overseas to china when his factory moved there. classified by the u.s. government as a casualty of foreign trade qualifies him for a stipend and money for retraining, unemployment benefits and cobra health insurance helped fill the gap. >> we are keeping it level and steady and right now we are okay. >> reporter: esit fast he is th the increasingly strained relations between the u.s. and china. 2.4 million jobs went to china between 2001 and 2008. with china's explosive rise comes a nation that is now a key

player in america's domestic and foreign policy. take its currency. anything made in china is cheaper than made in the usa. why? >> they arbitrarily control the value of their currency and they do not allow it to float like most other currencies in which supply and demand for the currency set the value of it. >> reporter: that means $1 is always equal to about 6.83 yen. >> the manipulation of their currency gives them a 40% advantage and puts our exporters at an enormous disadvantage. >> reporter: the treasury secretary abruptly postponed listing china as a manipulating their currency. >> we are not going to hang him out to dry while he is here, which would be politically

disastrous. >> reporter: then, there is this, pressuring china is tricky. china is america's banker. the world's factory floor. it's building its military by more of the world's natural resource toss fuel its growth. it doesn't like americans telling it what to do. >> the chinese showing a new assertiveness and aggressiveness that took many americans by surprise. i think it is partly because they are starting to listen to what we say about this being china's century. they are starting to internalize it. if this is our century, we should determine what goes on. >> reporter: at the same time, the u.s. needs china's influence with emerging nuclear threats in north korea and iran. >> the chinese have emphasized do it diplomateicily and let's negotiate. the americans have got more and more impatient and tried to move the world in the direction of difficult sanctions. >> reporter: the american people wonder, is china and opportunity or a threat? >> lit's going to be both.

the question is, on balance, is it better or worse? >> reporter: a question unanswered for steve udine is still out of work in foxborough, massachusetts. his job is now somewhere in china. his outlook, american. >> i am completely optimistic and believe in the marrow of my bones that i am going to find something that's good for me and my wife and children. >> publicly, the chinese dismissed the obama's administration to let its currency rise and chinese officials insist the u.s. is using beijing as a scapegoat for american economic troubles. the premier recently scolded the u.s. and says, the u.s. has too many problems of its own to interfere in how china chooses to do business. there are hopes that there could be narrowing of differences in this meeting this week, even narrowing of difference ns what to do with the chinese currency that certainly wouldn't solve

all of the problems in this trade relationship but many say could help prevent a mass exodus of more factory jobs. >> still, this whole thing of china rising is going to be an issue for decades to come, when they are the economic powerhouse they are and when they own a substantial portion of your debt? >> absolutely right. >> the other fascinating thing, a year without china. a year without "made in china" tried to go a year without buying something that eventually led back to china. >> tomorrow, we are going to detail how the american consumer touches chinese manufacturing, the globalization miracle that has lowered so many prices for us but at the same time has also meant there are other challenges like almost 10% unemployment. how do those things go together? you pay less for something but do you pay more eventually? we will see tomorrow. >> looking forward to it. good series, thanks. 33 minutes past the hour. poland now in a state of national mourning after the death of its president, lech

kaczynski, in a plane crash in russia. he and his wife, two of the 96 victims to died in this crash, many of them polish leaders. they found no mechanical problems with the plane. now focusing on pilot error as a possible call. a moment of silence at 3:30 this afternoon will mark a week since 29 miners died in west virginia. dangerous amounts of toxic gas are preventing them from recovering any more miners. mississippi governor, haley barbour said it was no big deal that his colleague, bob mcdonnel, in virginia left out any mention of slavery in a proclamation for confederate history month. >> there is the sort of feeling it is insensitive. you clearly don't agree. >> to me, it is the sort of feeling that it is a nit, not significant, just trying to make a big deal out of something that doesn't amount to a diddly.

>> he pointed out his state celebrates a con federal memorial day. governor mcdonnel apologized for leaving out the reference to slavery and since put it back in. many questions surrounding a tennessee mother's decision to send her adopted seven-year-old son back to russia on a plane by himself. it has put all adoptions on hold for the moment leaving so many children in limbo right now. ambassador, michael kesh by kir by joins us live from the state department. thanks for being with us, mr. ambassador. >> good morning. >> i want to read a portion of a letter that this adopt tiff mother, torre hanson, wrote to the russian ministry of education regarding her son. he also goes by the name of justin. she wrote, quote, after giving my best to which child, i am sorry to say that for the safety

of my family, friends and myself i no longer wish to parent this child. she says her child was violent, has severe psychopathic issues. she was lied to and misled by russian orphanage workers. the russian president, medvedev, called his return a monstrous act. how big could all of this become? >> we were certainly shocked, as was everybody, about the return of the child. we are hoping to work with the russians to continue the adoptions of children. we have had over 50,000 children ado adopted from russia. the vast majority are doing great here in the united states. >> well, russian authorities are outraged obviously as what happened. what they are saying is that the license of this agency that coordinated this boy's adoption has been suspended. they are calling a halt to all adoptions by americans. as you head to russia, what will you say to officials to reassure

them that this process of adoption between the two countries should continue? >> well, we have to talk about how we can follow up after the children are adopted. first, are the parents properly screened in the process. are the agencies that are screening them doing all that they could do to ensure that they are prepared to be new parents. i'm a parent. being a new parent is difficult. we have to work with the russians to make sure that the children themselves are also fully understanding what is going to happen to them as they move to a new country in a strange place. >> at the same time, mr. ambassador, we have seen other cases that are, as this one was described, the child may have fetal alcohol syndrome or some other psychological or emotional problems, becomes very, very difficult to deal with. what can be done in the adoption process to ensure that parents are more fully informed before they take on one of these children? >> well, i think the adoption

agency, the ones going through the process and screening the parents, have to talk straight out with them, that children come in all kinds. some are easier to cope with and others are more difficult. they should make them aware of the fact that fetal alcohol syndrome is a potentially serious issue with some children adopted from russia and from other countries. they should prepare them as well as they possibly can prepare them. next, i think that we should follow up with the adoption agency should follow up with the parents to make sure that the process is going as well as it can after the adoption and after they bring the child back to the united states. >> so if the parent ends up in this position of feeling unable to have the tools needed to deal with children who are either emotionally disturbed or have some sort of psychological issues, what is the recourse? most people agree that sending the child back with a note saying, thanks but no thanks, isn't the right thing to do. she was also parentally

reportedly scared to send the child back to the adoption agency, because she had concerns the child claimed that he was abused there. but, also, working with the adoption agency here in the united states, they felt they were sort of, their concerns were falling on deaf ears. what do you do as a parent in that situation? >> allstates have agencies that you can turn to when you have difficulty with your child. the parents should be aware they can turn to that. they can turn to health care providers and their doctors. they can turn to the state agencies involved. we have that in the united states. parents should be aware that they can reach out and go to those people in the united states for help. social workers are there to help. >> do we know, mr. ambassador, what's going to happen to young artyim? do you think he would spend the rest of his life in an orphanage. >> there is the possibility he

is an american silt zcitizen, c back here and being adopted or being adopted by a family in russia. he has to find the right family and it has to work out for him. >> what about other people who are thinking about international adoption. where does this leave them about whether or not they have concerns that the same thing could happen? >> i think they really ought to talk, when you are interested in adoption, just as when you are interested in having your own child. think through the process. are you prepared to be a parent? are you prepared to be a parent with a difficult child? every parent goes through stages with their children, whether they are adopted or natural born. they have to be ready for what comes. ambassador michael kirby at the state department, headed to moscow to try to work this situation out. thanks so much, mr. ambassador. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> we are going to check out our live blog, cnn.com/amfix. what the viewers are saying this morning. it is 40 minutes past the hour.

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welcome back. we have a lot of comments coming into our live blog this morning. we throw it up on our wall to

talk about it. a lot of people weighing in about this russian adoption story. he writes, it could have been triggered by an incident that happened where an adopted kid came to school with a gun and threatened students. the boy threatened to kill the adopt tiff parents and burn the house down. >> very suspicious of this hanson family. for americans, they seem remarkably reclusive and nothing about this family, what they do or how or why this adoption occurred in the first place. >> one person wrote, the russian adoption scandal is a mess. kids are not merchandise to be traded or refunded. there have to be safeguards to protect the adopt tiff parents and the child. >> we also had somebody ring in a little earlier today as we go back here on the master's, john doe writes, tiger has made a mistake or a couple of them but

life goes on. now, with what happened, it is between him and his wife and the rest of us need to leave him alone. the public will forget and forgive. the rest is up to tiger. >> somebody else saying, it was a great golf match, terrific that phil mickelson pulled it off in the end. >> i was watching it on saturday and i hear the commentator saying, we have never seen anything like this. i thought, i picked a good time to watch golf. >> they had a long history when it came to sunday afternoon, that he would fold up like a cheap suitcase. he seems to be past that. you can join our conversation at cnn.com/amfix. let us know what you think about things. new storms popping up out west. mostly dry. warmer temperatures underway particularly in the northeast. stay with us. rob marciano has the forecast. increase in 6 months. pete, back it up! ( marker squeaking ) when business travel leaves you drained,

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cowboy fans reflective. redskins fans say, good riddance as texas stadium disappeared in a cloud of dust yesterday. wow! great job of that. 3,000 pounds of dynamite leveled the sports arena. the cowboys won five super bowls. now, it is nothing but ten yards and a cloud of dust. >> it looks like it went off without a hitch. 49 minutes past the hour. let's check in with rob marciano. every guy loves an implosion. >> it was certainly very impressive. the old texas stadium looked so much smaller in relative to the new texas stadium, for sure. you know, all that dust in the air may be contribute together

record amounts of pollen that we are seeing. extreme pollen across much of the south. moderate across parts of the western great lakes and northern plains. we had a combination of a lot of rainfall in the past couple of months and a delayed response to the blooming and blossoming because of the cold. everything is coming together. we have heat and dry conditions that doesn't seem to want to p stop. that's contributing to the record amounts of pollen we are seeing. >> you are going to see it knocked down from san francisco to los angeles and san diego. some rainfall there. higher elevations. winter storm warnings are posted. some of that rain in the burn areas, for the next six to 12 hours may be dangerous as far as flooding potential. across parts of south florida, we are seeing rainfall. southern area there causing some action with the onshore flow. haiti is going to see a bad amount of rain over the next few days. that could sacause problems wit the folks struggling to survive.

east coast looks dry with 67 degrees in new york city. john, kiran, back to you. >> lovely day up here. thanks so much, rob. you have heard us talk about in wartime when a soldier or service member is injured, there is the golden hour if you can get that person good medical treatment very quickly, you can save their lives. now, there is a new way to do it. it is an e.r. team that can get right up to the front line of battle. our chris lawrence is embedded in afghanistan this week. he reports on that coming up. nine minutes to the top of the hour. my subaru saved my life. i won't ever forget that. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

54 minutes past the hour. it is the m.a.s.h. unit of the modern battlefield, an e.r. grahamed into a metal box with the marines on the front line every step of the way. >> giving military doctors a priceless head start on saving lives. the technology does not come cheap. chris lawrence live from kabul this morning. good morning, chris. >> reporter: good morning, john, kiran. imagine the peace of mind that

it gives to the troop toss think, if i get injured right here, just a few hundred yards away, there is an emergency room with ultrasound and the kind of equipment that would be impossible for just one medic to carry. >> reporter: an armored emergency room doesn't have to wait for the wounded. >> critically injured patient, let's go. it rolls right up to the front line. >> this is the mobile trauma bay. it is the front line of medical defense for the marine corps. we take a patient who would probably die without immediate life-giving care. we stop bleeding. we secure an airway. we keep them alive long enough to get them into the o.r. >> they always talk about that golden hour. you have that hour, if you get help within that first hour, your pretty much good to go. >> unfortunately, in theater, it is not always feedable asible t

patient to a hospital within one hour. if you are dealing with things like weather getting involved and you can't get your air asset in, you need something that can hold the patients over until you can get the helicopter in. our job is to keep them alive longer than the golden hour and extend that to an hour and a half, two hours. >> they are by far probably the greatest mental asset that keeps marines, like myself and my buddies who go out on these convoys. if we end up getting hit, knowing that it's going to be okay. >> reporter: all that means nothing if wounded troops can't in a very short time frame get to the next level of care, like the surgeons. >> we ged somebody here alive, 98% of them will leave here alive.

>> reporter: a collection of tents and trailers is being replaced by a new concrete hospital. the doctors are already prepping for the big events against the taliban come june. >> we don't know the exact date when that is going to occur. we have already made changes in the way we receive casualties. we have increased the number of trauma teams that we have. >> reporter: the new hospital is going to increase capacity by a third. not every unit is going to have the advantage of that mobile e.r. they cost about half a million dollars each. right now, only six of them in all of afghanistan. john, kiran? >> chris lawrence this morning from kabul. thanks so much. we are going to take a quick break. it is 57 minutes aft hour. we'll be right back. oh sure, we have plenty of employees that...

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